Capotosto to share ‘modern’ quilt design Aug. 18

Jul 11, 2023

Katherine Capotosto will present Thoroughly Modern Quilting during the Friday, Aug. 18, meeting of the Fairfield Glade Fantastic Quilters at Fairfield Glade United Methodist Church fellowship hall, 231 Westchester Dr.

Capotosto, a Fantastic Quilt Guild member, she will address what qualities actually make a quilt “modern,” when the Modern Quilt Guild was established and what has drawn her to this style in quilting.

Capotosto was born and raised in Monroeville, PA. She holds a B.S. degree in respiratory therapy from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has worked in several hospitals in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Louisiana and New York.

“Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth; I think I may have been born with a sewing needle in my hand!” Capotosto said.

As a young child, she began learning to stitch Barbie doll clothes by hand. She remembers her hands were always busy with that and other crafts involving needles of one kind or another, including weaving, crocheting, crewel and even sewing her own clothes.

Capotosto’s interest in quilting began with a great-aunt. She said she knew as a child that this great-aunt was a professional seamstress because she would often sew matching outfits for her and her sisters, especially at Easter.

She had been unaware that she also quilted until after the great-aunt’s passing.

Capotosto now owns two quilts that her great-aunt made. One is very old, and the other was made in 1951 for the birth of Capotosto’s brother.

Capotosto said she was introduced to quilting in 1986, when she witnessed a neighbor piecing together a bunch of little fabric pieces into a quilt and she became fascinated by this process.

Shortly after, she also received in the mail a book, “Great American Quilts,” which contained the picture of a quilt that she seemed drawn to.

The book had no pattern to go by nor any directions, but Capotosto used her ingenuity to match the fabric as close as possible, cut out the fabric pieces using scissors and then hand sew them together.

“The first few blocks all came out different sizes, but I went back to the drawing board and kept at it until I had it right,” Capotosto said. “It took a long time to finish that first quilt, but every single stitch in it was done by hand, including the quilting and the binding.”

She continued to hand quilt, though her next quilts were made by machine.

As Capotosto’s interest in quilting grew, she joined the Smithtown Stitchers Guild in Smithtown, NY, on Long Island and soon began attending quilt shows, most notably the annual one in Lancaster, PA.

Then, through mutual connections, she was asked to help someone vend at the American Quilters Society show in Paducah, KY, in 1996. She and a friend hauled more than 700 bolts of fabric in a horse trailer to that show. Capotosto said it was exhausting work and by the time the show was over and packed up, she was totally exhausted and never wanted to see a piece of fabric again.

However, she soon began taking quilting classes and met some wonderful friends who have seen her through some dark times.

She and her quilting friends soon began participating in quilting challenges and quilting retreats, a journey that led her to the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild in Ithaca, NY.

Capotosto and her husband, Peter, eventually moved to Tennessee in 2010 and she soon became a member of the Cookeville Crazy Quilters, became a founding member of the Plateau Sassy Stitchers in Cumberland Cove, and eventually joined the Fairfield Glade Fantastic Quilters.

“There are certain qualities about modern quilts that really draw me to them,” she said, “including the breaking of rules (which I am a pro at), the use of bright, bold colors in making a quilted project, and asymmetry,” she said.

“Also, there is plenty of freedom and flexibility in modern quilts. You can leave a lot of negative space (background) that allows you to show off incredible machine quilting skills, or you can do narrow, straight-line quilting which adds texture. Another interesting technique is improv-piecing where you freely cut with a rotary cutter but use no ruler, or maybe use a ruler and cut wonky shapes.”

Through her lecture and trunk show, Capotosto will address how modern quilts, as opposed to the rules and order of traditional quilts, often go off the grid because they require less fuss which gives more improvised styles due to the unusual arrangement of blocks and settings.

The session will include a business meeting, quilting tips and tricks, the fat quarter drawing featuring small prints, and a time of show and tell.

The Fantastic Quilt Guild is a group of 150 quilters who meet on the third Friday of the month at the Fairfield Glade United Methodist Church to further the art of quilting through education, sharing, community outreach and social camaraderie.

They have been meeting since 2002. New members and visitors are always welcome.

Email [email protected] for more information.

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